Quartix shares jump as vehicle tracking firm reports profit jump
Shares in vehicle tracking outfit Quartix jumped 8.2 per cent on Monday after it posted positive revenue, profit and cashflow in preliminary earnings as it looks to distance itself from a failed acquisition last year.
In preliminary interim results, Quartix said it expects to report revenues of £16m, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £2.6m and pre-tax profit of £2.6m for the period ended 30 June. Free cash flow came in just under £1m.
“The Board is confident of meeting market expectations for the year, with the potential for revenue to track slightly ahead,” the company said on Monday. Analysts are expecting revenue of just over £32m and adjusted EBITDA of £5.4m for the full year 2024.
Double-digit subscription growth in its European divisions helped drive the company’s total customer base up by nine per cent over the past year. Founded in 2001, Quartix sells devices to monitor and track commercial fleets.
Andy Walters, executive chairman of Quartix, said: “It is extremely pleasing to have recorded strong growth in the value of our subscription base over the past 12 months.
“We have now put the issues of 2023 behind us and, despite incurring more than £0.5m of cost associated with those in the first half, we expect to record approximately £2.6m of pre-tax profit in our interim results.
The AIM-listed stock has fallen 37 per cent over the past year after the company’s acquisition of German consultancy Konetik in September 2023 failed to pay off. Quartix said “insignificant revenues” forced it to return Konetik to its owners in March.
In October 2023, chief executive Richard Lilwall stepped down and founder Walters took back control.